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Citing Sources

Options for Faster and More Efficient Bibliographic Management

Many of our subscription databases will format their records in the most popular citation styles, e.g., MLA, APA, etc., and then let you simply copy and paste it into your Works Cited page.

In EBSCOhost databases the option looks like this.

In Films on Demand the option looks like this.

In JSTOR the option looks like this.

In WorldCat the option looks like this.

As you take on more challenges as a researcher, you may want to organize your sources into a personal library so that they can be efficiently reused for multiple papers and projects.  Zotero is what the library recommends and supports for automated bibliographic management.  It is available at no charge as a Firefox extension or as a standalone application.

Here is a link to online tutorials for Zotero.

https://www.zotero.org/support/screencast_tutorials

Download and Install Zotero

https://www.zotero.org/download/

In the past Zotero was only available as an extension to the Firefox browser.  Now it is available as a standalone application that can be easily connected up with Firefox, Chrome, or Safari (but not IE).

Plugins

Explore the list of plugins to make Zotero more useful for your situation.

https://www.zotero.org/support/plugins

Citation Styles Repository

https://www.zotero.org/styles

Customizing Zotero for Camden-Carroll Library

To make this function properly for the resources offered through Camden-Carroll Library, click open the "Edit" menu then select "Preferences" and "Advanced" entering the address below under "OpenURL."

https://saalck-moreheadstate.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/openurl/01SAA_MOREHEAD/01SAA_MOREHEAD:MOREHEAD?

BE SURE TO RESTART YOUR COMPUTER AFTER INSTALLING EVERYTHING ABOVE.

Incorporated into MS Word since 2007 is a set of tool for creating citations and bibliographies.  Simply click on the 'References' tab to see these tools.  

Notice in the screen clip above that there is also a tab for Zotero because the Zotero plugin for MS Word had been installed.

The library discontinued its volume license for EndNote with version X1 and now supports Zotero.  Faculty still using EndNote can still seek assistance from the library with the understanding that we do not have the most current version to refer to.

There are a number of citation applications (apps) out there on the market.  Many of them are not perfect, so we highly recommend that you check any citations built by these apps against the appropriate citation style manual.  We've tested a number of the free apps and reviewed them for your perusal.

EasyBib

http://www.easybib.com

  • This is a web based citation app that retrieves some citation info (components like titles, authors, etc.) from various places to build your citations.  The information it pulls may not always be correct!
  • After EasyBib pulls citation info on your source, it does allow you to edit the components to ensure accuracy. It also provides tips on editing the content correctly.
  • It only builds MLA 6th and 7th edition citations for free.  There is an EasyBib Pro option that will help you with APA and Chicago/Turabian.
  • EasyBib allows you to build several citations and save them as a Microsoft Word or Google document.  You can also register for an account to save your citations, just remember that signing up for the EasyBib Pro account is something you pay for.  It's not the free version of EasyBib.
  • Summary: EasyBib handles most of the standard citations for books and articles fairly well, but it does require thorough review of each citation and comparison against the appropriate manual.  
  • EasyBib has a new iPod, iPad, and iPhone app.  You can check it out at iTunes.

KnightCite

http://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite/

  • KnightCite is another free web based citation app, this one using a fill-out-a-form system to create the citations.  The user simply fills out the appropriate form with an item's citation info, and KnightCite takes it from there, converting the info into the full citation.
  • KnightCite works with MLA, APA and Chicago citation styles, though it does not necessarily handle electronic document citation well.
  • You can register for a free account, with which you can create full bibliographies, save citations, and export bibliographies to Microsoft Word, etc. 
  • Summary: KnightCite can be a great tool if you need a quick citation generated and you already have all the citation info for the item, but the quality of the generated citation may be lacking.  Like other citation apps, it does require thorough review of each citation generated and comparison against the appropriate manual.

Citation Machine

http://citationmachine.net/

  • (Son of) Citation Machine is yet another free web based citation app that combines both ISBN citation info look-up functions with the standard citation info form to generate citations.  The information it pulls with its ISBN look-up is not always correct!
  • It can generate citations in MLA, APA, Chicago, and Chicago Turabian, though it doesn't handle various formats well.
  • Citation Machine does provide examples for in-text citations, but they often have errors including extra punctuation.  
  • Summary: Though Citation Machine can be easy to use, it is often riddled with slight errors.  Like other citation apps, it does require thorough review of each citation generated and comparison against the appropriate manual.